God Hand Sai
by Shjanzey
Summary: Sai returns to Tokyo after a long absence. He isn't a ghost this time around. Not only is he going to rock the go world, but there are new aspects to his character. First chapter starts with a bang!
1. Terrible Arrival

Appearing out of the darkness, a giant steel beast cut its way through the water. A relatively calm sea disrupted by the low bubbling growl of engines struggling to push the lifeless cathedral of metal forward. As if appearing from nothing the dark foggy night had obscured its approach until it was almost on top of the docking yard.

On the deck above the prow of the ship stood a dark silent figure. It wore a tattered gray cloak, its face hidden within the recesses of a large hood. The only apparent motion it gave came from the bobbing of the ship, and a small breeze that tickled the edges of the cloak. An eerie silence descended on the yard as the ship slid into its place on the pier.

"Pull the mooring line!" shouted an old dockhand as he tied a massive rope around a jutting bollard. Out of the corner of his eye he thought he saw two red orbs boring into the side of his head. Startled by the thought he turned to take a closer look, but only saw a wisp of fog gently float accros the bow. 'Strange' the man thought to himself, 'Tis a night that be playin' tricks on one's eyes.' Turning back to his work the man jumped in fright. He had heard nothing and yet there stood a hooded figure not two paces away from him.

"By the balls of Triton himself, why you be sneakin' up on a man like that?" cursed the furious man.

The figure seemed slowly turned towards the man and paused before gliding off into the darkness. The salty old man glimpsed what he thought were two sword hilts from the dark folds of the cloak. "Nera's tits, I thought those fool things were outlawed after the war" he grumbled to himself.

The figure wended its way through the night stopping now and then as if deciding which course it would take. The denizens of the night seemed to shrink from the presence of the mysterious sojourner. Eventually darkness swallowed it up as the figure went on its way. Noise slowly found its way back to its habitual nooks and crannies, as if the oppressive figure had never walked that way.

* * *

The morning dawn always brings new beginnings. As the renewing light peaked over the horizon it stretched out to embrace the face of a young man, no older than 30 years lying on a bed of green amidst a sea of concrete. His arms were folded behind his head and a lazy grin adorned his face. Publicly stretched out on the grass without a care in the world, a slumbering person wasn't a common site in modern Japan. Where order and cleanliness are considered high virtues the young man was definitely out of place.

The sunlight continued to caress his face, and began to gently stroke his eyelids. With the morning light signalling its arrival he finally opened his eyes wide and sat up stretching languidly with a yawn. With the day fully illuminated he could see just how much Japan had changed since he had last been there.

Slowly rising to his feet, he began to wander aimlessly through the waking city. There was only one thing on his mind now and the marvelous technological changes that had transformed the landscape of Japan did nothing to perturb him. He strolled until he saw what he was looking for. A sign with "Aikiba Go Salon" hung among the forest of signs that decorated the street-scape. Wandering in he looked around expectantly.

"Oi!" shouted a heavyset man, "We don't serve vagrants here! Keep on moving if you know whats good for you!" Reaching behind the counter he grabbed a long wooden baseball bat.

An angry expression exploded on the young man's face as fire flashed from his eyes. The heavyset man took a step back as he broke out into a cold sweat.

The young man simply turned around and left. The same incident repeated itself in Go salon's all accross Tokyo that day. As the day wore on the young man found himself standing underneath an unpretentious sign that simply stated, "Go Salon". As he entered the comforting sound of stones *clacking* down on go boards reach his ear. He unconciously smiled at the memory of many games played. A secretary behind the counter politely bowed as she said, "I am sorry sir, but I hope you can understand we do not want to upset our customers. Can I offer you a snack and beverage to take on your way?"

As the anger began to boil within the young man a voice called out, "Wait Ichikawa-san!" A young boy about 12 years old stood next to the counter. "Are you here to play go?"

The young man nodded silently.

"If you don't mind, you can play me if you want." the boy smiled before adding, "The first visit is free."

The young woman behind the counter gasped in surprise, but said nothing more.

With a faint smile the young man followed the boy to the back of the shop. As he walked he noticed a difference in quality to this particular salon. The air wasn't heavy with smoke, like so many he had visited that day. There were customers of all ages and of both sexes intently playing or discussing a game. The boy stopped at a goban displaying stones set with a game already in progress. "My name is Touya Akira I am pleased that you came to visit our salon." Akira began to clear off the goban as he gestured towards one of the seats.

The young man removed his cloak, folded it into a neat square and set it beside the chair. He then removed two mangificent looking swords from his hip and layed them lovingly on top of his cloak which he then rolled over them to better conceal their presence. Sitting down he grabbed a bowl containing white stones and lightly bowed, "Please".

"Please" Akira said as he bowed reverently. Grabbing his first stone the boy slapped it down at 16-16 the top right star point.

Almost instantaneously the young man set a stone down at 4-4, another star point. With an air of confidence he looked up from the board expectantly at Akira.

Responding to the challenge in his eyes Akira slammed a stone down at 16-3, the position right below the star point.

Suddenly the fight was on as the young man chose to attack. Placing a stone at 16-5 he swiftly invaded the Akira's territory, but he chose to ignore the threat in favor of gaining an advantage in the remaining quadrant. *clack* a stone fell at 3-15.

Not letting things go so easily the young man followed Akira and pressed another attack at 4-17. Apparently he wanted Akira to bite back and wasn't going to stop pushing until he did.

Left with no choice Akira decided to take the battle to the right side of the board. Soon a heated battle raged accross the entire half of the board. Starting in the upper right quadrant it swiftly spilled down to the lower right. An older gentleman, one of the salon customers, walked over to the table to see how the game was progressing. His eyes widened in surprise when he saw the game was not turning out as he expected. When others saw the man frozen in shock they quickly made their way over to see as well. In no time a crowd surrounded the two as their war raged accross the goban.

Akira began to sweat as his every effort was thwarted and pushed back. Just as he thought he was gaining an advantage the young man would suddenly connect and surround a vital group of stones, or he would slice and cut off a growing territory. "Who could this guy be?" he thought in panic. "I thought I knew all of the high ranked players!" Although Akira managed to make a few islands of life, the right side was already dominated by the young man's superior shapes.

Akira's heart began to pound within his chest, as he desperately scanned the board for a way to victory. His hand visibly shook as it hovered over the board looking for the best point to place the quivering stone. Overcoming the overwhelming defeat on the right side of the board looked like an impossible task already, but he still couldn't stop looking for a way out. The only times he had been beaten so soundly is when he played against higher dans, and usually he could hold out a lot longer than this. Only 130 moves into the game and Akira bowed his head, "I resign". Eyes smoldering, despite the defeat, Akira finally voiced the question lingering in his mind, "Wh-who are you?"

The young man's long silence finally broke, "You can call me Sai." With a small smile and a gentle voice he spoke again, "Touya-kun you have some skill. If you practice hard, I think that you could be pretty good someday."

Akira's mouth hung open in shock after hearing Sai's blunt assessment of the game. The moment was interrupted by the shouting of the old man, "How dare you talk to Master Touya like that! Do you have any idea who you just played?"

Sai's eyes opened wide in surprise staring at the man in confusion, "Should I?"

Whispers erupted from the crowd. Snippets of, "He really doesn't know" and "Who the hell does he think he is?" reached his ears. The old man nominated himself the spokesperson for the group. After silencing their erratic murmurs he spoke, "This is Touya Akira the son of Touya Meijin-sensei himself. He is going to take the pro exam this year, but he is already better than most of the beginner dans."

After the enthusiastic speech the old man had a smug look on his face. Sai simply sat there rubbing his chin staring off into space. He began muttering to himself, "Touya Akira, Touya Mejin hmm.." turning to the old man he spoke up, "Nope! I'm sorry I have never heard of them."

Pandemonium erupted in the room. Who would have thought that someone could walk into the Meijin's go salon, defeat his own son and not even know who he was. "Just because you got lucky and beat Touya-kun on a bad day you think you can rub it in our faces!"

"So you came in here to insult the Meijin!" shouted the old man. His face red in anger. Two people from the group had grabbed his arms while he struggled to break free.

Sai's chair squealed loudly as he stood up. The group was cowed into silence when the atmosphere suddenly changed. Barely whispering Sai indignantly spoke, "That game was a gift to Touya-kun. I didn't even play with half my strength. What kind of go-player would I be if I took my frustration out on a boy in a friendly game of go, especially after he displayed such courtesy in allowing me to play?"

Gasps were heard from everywhere. It looked like the old man was struggling to say something, but was silenced by Akira's voice.

With his head bowed and his hands still trembling he choked out, "He's right. That game was nothing more than a teaching game. He d-didn't play me at full strength". Akira couldn't control the emotion that he was feeling at that moment. A tear trickled down his face. He hadn't felt this way since he first started learning go. That feeling of impotence, as if the opponent was looking down on him from the lofty heights of heaven. A thunderbolt had struck him and left him with a feeling that he thought he had left far behind.

Sai already finished placing his swords, which caused the group give him more space than before. After dawning his cloak he slowly began to work his way towards the door.

"Wait!" shouted Akira, "with your level of skill you should be at least a title holder! Why haven't I heard of you? Why aren't you even a go pro?"

Pausing Sai turned his head while looking over his shoulder. With a large smile he said, "Oh but I am a title holder. I am God Hand Sai!"


	2. Chapter 2

In the middle of Tokyo sat a pristine old-style Japanese house. It looked like a paradisical oasis amidst the zooming momentum of the city as people rushed on their daily pursuits. The maddening caucophany could be lulled into a low hum upon entering this sprawling retreat. There was a garden complete with a tiny water-fall that flowed into a pond pregnant with gold and white koi fish. Neatly trimmed conifer trees with well kept gravel beds lined walkways and were shaped in a way that was naturally pleasing to the eye. If one were to wander in from the outside world it would lend a sense of peace and tranquility.

*Clack* *Clack* *Clack*

The sound of stones being placed on a goban disturbed the still silence of that magical place. Inside the teak wood house, beyond the rice paper dividers and over hallways lined with tatami mats sat three men in a spacious room watching a goban as Touya Akira finished placing the last stone. "This is where I resigned." Akira expected Ogata to snidely criticize him like always, but he was silent.

The group just sat there staring at the board deep in thought. Disturbing the silence the Meijin finally spoke, "He has a surprising level of skill. I don't know any other players displaying such a style, although it is reminiscent of Shuusaku don't you think?"

Ogata looked up from the board while pushing his glasses to his face with his middle finger. "That fuseki he played was definitely Shusaku's favorite, but that hasn't been used since the 30's. He gave it life, when we thought it was all but played out." Ogata unconciously tapped his finger in a tight rhythm on his leg. "Did you find out anything about this man Akira? I want to meet him."

Ogata was direct as always. Akira blushed before replying, "Well, he did say his name was Sai. He looked like a homeless guy and Ishikawa-san almost kicked him out, but something about him made me curious."

Ogata sighed in exasperation, "You played a monster this strong and you didn't even bother to find out who he was?"

Akira knew he should have done something more, but his emotional state was all but shattered after that game. Fortunately his father intervened on his behalf, "Ogata-san there is no need to worry. A player this powerful has made his presence known. It won't be long before he causes another stir. We should be patient and wait for him to announce himself again."

Never known for his patience Ogata pulled a cigarette from the pack in his breast pocket and swung his white suit jacket over his shoulder. Without another word he stood up and left the room.

Touya Mejin smiled as he left, "He has never been good at waiting. I suppose he is going to drive around all night looking for that Sai."

Akira nodded, "That man has me excited too father. I think I will wait another year to take the test, my go just isn't good enough."

Without saying another word Touya merely nodded his head. Letting his son decide when he was ready was just as important a step as teaching him the first moves of go. He knew that Akira was ready, but after losing his confidence with that crushing defeat it was better to let him find his way again. Thoughts turning from his son the great player's mind went back to the game he had just seen. It was as if every move illuminated like a star in heaven after it was played. The entirety of the game shown so brilliantly in Touya Meijin's mind that it was like a breath of fresh oxygen after a long drought under water. After conquering the go world Touya Koyo had resigned himself to the knowledge that he would never again experience those bright emotional games he played when he was just starting his professional journey. A new star had dawned, though and it had ignited a fire within the Meijin.

Sai walked aimlessly through the city while he thought about the game. "It has been too long" he thought. "That kid isn't too bad, nope not too bad at all." Eventually he sighed to himself, "If only I could find a challenging opponent." Although he was engrossed deeply in his thoughts a low rumble echoed from his belly. It has been several days since he had last eaten. "Playing go is all well and good, but I need to eat!"

Looking around Sai noticed he had stumbled into a seedy neighborhood. For all intensive purposes it was just as well maintained and neat as any other street in Japan, but there were hints that you wouldn't want to go walking around here alone at night. Large men wearing full suits standing next to an unmarked door, even though it was a little too warm to be wearing a suit jacket and long sleeve shirt. There were more game and Pachinko parlours in this area as well as a few love hotels that probably doubled for something more sinister. High school punks, who should have been in school at that moment were freely roaming the area posturing and staring at each other. Sai rubbed his stubbly chin thinking he felt quite comfortable with his new discovery when something caught his eye. Four punks were sitting on top of milk carton crates while displaying a goban, shogi board, mah-jong, some playing cards, and a dice cup in front of them. Next to them within a doorway stood a burly suited man wearing dark sun glasses. His head was close-shaven and he had a scar running down one side of his face. He was turned the other way, purposefully ignoring the four punks.

"Ah!" Said exclaimed as he paused for a moment.

"OI!" shouted one of the punks, "Are you going to rubberneck there all day, or do you want to lose some money to me? If not, you are blocking my business now move!"

Sai smiled unconsciously, "Ah, lets play go. What are the rules?"

"First game is free. After that we can determine your handicap and place bets. The game will be speed go, 3 minutes to each player. If you can't finish within your time then you lose." All four punks began to laugh amongst themselves.

"It seems kind of fast to play go." replied Sai.

"I'm running a business, not playing all day for fun. Why don't we play dice its faster anyways."

Sai nodded and squatted down between his knees. "Okay lets play go then."

With an excited glint in his eyes Sai waited for his opponent to move. His opponent took a star-point, and Sai immediately placed a stone in the middle. The punk paused for a second and stared at him confused. "Oraa? What kind of crappy move is that?" *CLACK* *CLACK* *CLACK* *CLACK* four moves were played in quick succession. The punk quickly built up territory along the left hand side of the board. Sai merely defended, but then placed some erratic moves here and there. It seemed as if he was playing them at random which only gave the punk more confidence as they played. The game was quickly ended as both of them blazed into the end-game.

Sai frowned as he muttered to himself, "It seems I lost by 1 moku. I guess speed go isn't my game."

"Hey gramps its okay, lets play again this time for money. We play even the bet is 10,000 yen. I give you 1 handicap 20,000 yen, 2 handicap its 40,000 yen."

Sai cheered inside, "Oh yaay, I'll get to eat afterall!" Finally assessing his opponent Sai replied, "Okay 9 stones"

"Wha-what!? Are you making fun of me bastard?" shouted the punk.

The other punks grabbed him as he tried to launch himself at his impetuous opponent.

Sai didn't move, even faced with this sudden onslaught. He just sat there with a confused innocent look on his face.

"I meant to say 9 stones for you. If I win you can pay me 5,000,000 yen"

The punk choked and began to turn red, "Y..you"

"Eh, Kenji wait!" said one of the others. "I'll be right back!" As he took off down the street the other three sat there and glared at Sai. Unperturbed, Sai was content to watch people come and go as they rushed to and from the various businesses on the street. It wasn't long before the punk came running back and stopped half out of breath. He whispered something into Kenji's ear and then sat back panting.

Kenji eyed Sai thoughtfully for a second before he spoke. "If you want to talk so big you better be able to pay up."

"Oh that is no problem" he smiled. "I'll use this sword as collateral, it's a Murasami blade. It is probably worth about 500 million yen, but I'm not sure anymore."

Several of the punks gasped when they heard that, but Kenji was intent on placing the handicap stones. "Do what you want man. Same rules apply, in about 6 minutes you will be giving me that sword."

Sai instantly placed his first stone on the lower right quadrant while Kenji ignored it and decided to start building territory on the top half of the board. Seemingly amused Sai instantly attacked and followed Kenj for a few moves as he attempted to build a wall. After four moves Sai cut and block and further territory and manage to creat a nice group with a good chance of life in the process. Switching tactics Kenji decided to try and secure the right side of the board and move towards the middle. Responding to this Sai defended by placing his stones towards the edge of the board. Kenji was forced to move inwards towards his goal, the center of the board. It looked like he had secured a nice large piece of territory that would give him a considerable lead.

"Once I have the middle, then I can branch out to any of the sides and wreak havok!" Kenji thought to himself. "All I need to do is close this group and give it life then I'll..." Kenji's thought came to a screeching halt. That cut that had been made at the very beginning of the game was standing there blocking his attempt at making life. With a sharp intake of breath he suddenly realized it was much worse than that. Since he had focused so intently on gaining the center he had allowed the entire group to be effectively surrounded. The trap was sprung and it was now too late. Whatever advantage he thought he was going to gain would be lost in 3 more moves. Sweat began to pour down his face as his hands began to tremble. None of the other guys knew what was coming, but he did. He was the ringer, the money maker nobody beat him and never for so much money!

*CLACK* *CLACK* *CLACK* The last move set down by Sai seemed to happen in slow motion. Kenji's predicament became apparent to everyone now. The once dominating presence of black strongly reinforced by the 9 stone handicap was swept away into Sai's prisoner bowl. The board was left with a pure white presence as if a recent snowfall had covered the board. "

"I...I resign" Kenji said with his head bowed low.

Sai happily clapped his hands as he sung, "Oh 5 million yen! I win I win again! 5 million yen! Now I get to spend! 5 million yen! Hey, hey, lets do it again!"

"Y...you tricked me you bastard!" Kenji spat interrupting Sai's song. "Like we're going to pay a cheater like you!"

Sai blinked in surprise pointing to himself, "But you tried to trick me. Why shouldn't I play along?" A fierce light began to smoulder in his eyes, "Or are you telling me that you weren't going to take the Murasami blade if I lost? During the first game you padded your score by at least a 4 or 5 handicap. That way no matter how high someone felt like going you would feel secure in winning."

By this time Kenji was trembling with anger, but suddenly he stopped. A lazy grin spread accross his face, "Well gramps you beat me. But there are four of us and one of you so get lost!" All four of them stood up menacingly.

*WHOOSH*

The hair on all four punks was blown back by a sudden breeze. A few second later four distinct *pop* sounds could be heard. As they walked toward Sai their pants sagged and fell down to their knees. Reaching down to pull them up they noticed four gleaming belt buckles lying on the ground neatly sliced on both sides. Slowly registering what happened terror began to reflect in their eyes.

Kenji spoke up loudly, "Yamamura-san, this guy thinks he can rough us up and get away with it."

The giant suited man suddenly came to life. Turning towards the group he snorted, "You guys are worthless. This is as far as you will ever go." Finishing his speech his glasses suddenly shifted and then fell in two pieces on the ground. The shocked man stared at Sai who merely looked back with a laughing grin on his face.

"Muscles-san, give me 5 million yen before I lose my patience."

"Do you know who you are messing with?" the man questioned.

"Of course muscles-san, you are a Yakuza who is baby-sitting these three con-men. They win and pay you a tax. They must do well for you to watch them like this."

The man sighed, "You have good eyes, follow me. You four go see One-eyed Aoki. Tell him what happened and ask for punishment."

"Oh!" started Sai, "you have good self-control."

Following the big man through the door Sai walked down an empty well-lit hallway that had no decorations. Stopping at the second room they walked in. Sitting behind a large wooden desk was an old man with spectacles hanging on the end of his nose. He had virtually no hair on his head, and a long whispy white goatee beard. Piled on one side of the the table were stacks of neatly bound and organized bills. A regular rhythm of clicks accompanied by the dull whine of a printer sounded in the room. On the right side of the desk, next to the singing accounting machine was an ashtray full of cigarette butts. A haze of blue smoke hung over the head of the accountant as he looked up slowly from his work. With a cigarette still hanging from his mouth the old man said, "Eh? What do you want?"

"Give this man 5 million Oda-san."

The old man narrowed his eyes as he stared at Sai. "Never seen him before" he harrumphed.

"It is being properly dealt with" the yakuza replied as he bowed this time.

The old man stood up from his chair. With one gnarled hand he scratched his butt while he bent over the massive desk. Finding what he was searching for he grabbed a bundle with the other hand and tossed it hatefully at Sai.

Without seeming to move Sai smoothly intercepted the bundle and placed within the folds of his cloak. He bowed slightly, "Thank you, thank you grandpa-san." The gesture was lost, because the rhythmic clicking had already resumed carrying the old man away in the current of a fast moving river of money.

Leaving the room the giant man's face twitched and then he spoke, "Allow me to invite you to join us for dinner. It would be a small token of apology for our negligent mistreatment during the previous business negotiations."

Sai couldn't help but be amused by the facade so he readily agreed. "I brought a ready appetite, you are fortunate that my stomach is so willing to accept this generous gesture of good will."


End file.
